MARTA expansion will need P3 funding

Georgia– The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) system expansion plan will include more light-rail expansion. A revised proposal now includes more rail as well as leaning on other sources of funding beyond public funds. The new plan aims to build a zigzag of light rail through the city from Greenbriar, along parts of the BeltLine, to the Emory/Centers for Disease Control area.

The new plan also adds more rail in southeast Atlanta and on the west side and has the so-called “Clifton Corridor” line up to Emory. This is contingent on its supporters finding more money, which opens the door for a public-private partnership (P3), to see the project to fruition. Completion of the full 22-mile loop is slated to cost $11 billion, a number that is not even close to being covered by Atlanta’s 40-year half-penny sales tax worth only $2.5 billion. The next official step is a vote by the MARTA board scheduled for Oct. 4.